Good morning all here we are again in the Port of Agio Nikolais- Crete and yes its our 51st Wedding anniversary today, quite amazing how time flies when you are keeping busy and travelling.
Following breakfast we when then to ‘THE RETREAT’ which is an area of the ship which has little cabins with hot and cold running waiters and we were given fee access as a special treat for the day. First thing Jennifer disappeared off to have a one hour long massage and duly arrived looking a little worse for wear as the masseuse was apparently very strong and was able to knead away all the aching muscles accumulated of the the past 51 years, Ha.
So we spent the complete day there having lunch with both having salads of different types and with the odd zizz in between Jennifer did her sewing and Noel listen to his music. One of the waiting staff came from Cape town and we talked about a possible visit there but he seems rather reluctant to recommend it due to the current problems he said both in certain areas of Cape town and elsewhere, clearly we need to check before adventuring there. Around lunch time they turned on some large fans and suddenly I was covered with a light dusting of rain but as it was a clear sky thought hat was strange but the fans are designed to emit a fine spray of water to help cool down the area, good idea we thought.
At the end of the day we went back to the cabin for a wash and brush up and from there up to the Observatory Bar when shortly afterwards the Captain and his top aides to give a welcome to recently joined guests and let them know a little bit more about the cruise and his comrades responsibilities on board the vessel. So what do the numbers mean at the top well the Captain informed us that there were currently only 217 guests on board whilst there was 365 staff to take care of you, so quite a good ratio of guest to staff. This apparently changes later in the month where guests will begin to outnumber the staff with more than 400 on board as the season picks up. Apparently many Americans are not travelling to Europe due to the war in Ukraine??
For dinner tonight we had booked the Thomas Keller Restaurant which is very posh but as usual Noel eating requirements were well know by all the staff and so Noel had his lovely Gulf Bay Prawns and Jennifer Crab cake and we both had a ribeye steak as a main course but both stayed away from the desert being good boys. Our waiter for this evening was a Peruvian guy named Gino and of course he asked where we cam from so we answered near London Heathrow and he said exactly where which we thought a bit strange and so we told him West Byfleet to which he responded he knows it well as he used to live for four years in Hersham and was the Maître D at the Mercedes Benz Brooklands restaurant, such a small world.
After dinner we had a quick drink in the bar before leaving for the Seabourn square for a cup of tea sitting in the nice comfortable seats and then on to see the show. In the past I have not really bothered with the shows but to be frank we have seen three now and all of good quality and last nights show covered music and songs from West Side Story, Chicago , Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Elton John and so a brillant mix of music we both enjoyed.
Upon our return to the cabin we found the bed covered with a few red rose petals and a congratulations card together with a bottle of Red wine and gold covered strawberries, what a nice thought and to cap it all the TV had been switched to the music channel with songs from 1971…..
Oh well its been a long day and so to bed.
